We all know March to be popular for occasions such as Saint Patrick’s Day and March Madness, but we cannot forget that march is also women’s history month. It is a month designated to celebrate women who have exemplified leadership and strength. It is meant to celebrate women from all different backgrounds and from all around the world who have made meaningful contributions and made change possible. In honor of this month, popular brands have come up with creative campaigns to empower and commend women for their achievements.
Brawny
The well-known paper towel brand replaced their usual flannel-wearing mascot with a woman. The Brawny website specifies that their company has the “Brawny Man stepping aside to give women the spotlight.” Its campaign is meant to celebrate strong women everywhere who have inspired us. The advertisement released pays tribute to all women who have exceeded expectations and had extraordinary achievements. These women include Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Marie Curie and many others. The video displays each woman’s name with glass being shattered in the background, meant to show how these women have broken barriers and caused change. The video ends with the campaign motto #strengthhasnogender, which shows that women can have strength just as much as any man. Strength is not something that is limited to men and this advertisement is a tribute to that.
Ann Taylor
Another popular brand that put out an advertisement in honor of women’s history month is Ann Taylor, which shares the struggles women have faced over the years and how they overcame them. The powerful video starts off by saying, “Before there were power suits, there were picket signs. Behind every conference call, there have been catcalls, calls from school, tough calls, wake up calls.” The video tackles the difficult issues women face today, such as being a mother in the workforce, dealing with getting catcalls, and just double standards in general. While expressing the conflicts that women face, it also celebrates what it is to be a woman and the strength that comes with it. It celebrates the women who have come before us because they have made us what we are and also the women who are beside us today because they are our future.
Microsoft
Microsoft released an advertisement in which they ask girls to name famous inventors. Very effortlessly, these girls are able to name acclaimed inventors ranging from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison. However, when asked to name a female inventor, none of the girls could name one, claiming that in school, it was always a male inventor.
The advertisement then presents a few inventions made by females including Martha Coston who invented signal flares, Maria Beasley who made the life raft, Ada Lovelace who made the first computer algorithm, and many others. The advertisement brings notice to the fact that female inventors are hardly ever brought to our attention and that, for the most part, we usually only study and learn about male inventors. The video closes with the hashtag #MakeWhatsNext, which is meant to encourage girls to invent and show them that they can be involved in the STEM field as much as boys.
Always
Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign released an ad in which young girls and women alike express the limitations that come with being a girl, such as having to be traditional and passive because boys are deemed as the ones who rescue girls, not the other way around. The girls are told to write out their limitations on boxes, in which they write things like “unworthy,” “slow,” “weak,” and “can’t be brave.” The ad finishes with the girls kicking over these boxes, showing the need for these stereotypes to be broken. Always shows that girls should not accept these stereotypes and representations, but instead fight against them. This ad is all about instilling confidence in young girls and women and showing them that they do not have to fit any cookie-cutter ideal of what a girl should be.
All of these brands celebrate what it is to be a women and accurately display the experiences that come with it. The work that these companies are doing to empower women is important not only in breaking years old stereotypes, but also in recognizing the hard work of women prior and the potential of women today.
It is the women from our past that have gotten us to where we are now. It is the women who have fought for change and were not afraid to break barriers; to go beyond what was expected of them.
It’s those like Amelia Earheardt, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and many others who have pushed the envelope, that teach us women today that no mountain is too high to climb. Our history pays tribute to how far we have come and how much farther we need to go.
Brands like these show women that they too, can be strong, unstoppable, and intelligent leaders to change today’s world like the women before us have.